| | Contract law covers oral agreements. Small claims court would be an appropriate venue for things like rude and irresponsible trade people that don't keep their word, but only if one was sufficiently upset to waste time that way when it would clearly be better just to move on. (EDIT: I was wrong here about the small claims court because, as Tibor points out, no consideration was given - it is a broken promise and not a contract. Steve)
But this problem is common in today's society. The consumer is an amateur doing business with an experienced professional - a part-timer working with someone in the field full-time. An individual dealing with an organization. There is an imbalance of power. The more the organization is government-like (think utility companies, for example) the less responsive they are.
For example, when we rent or lease an apartment or house, or a car or when we buy a car from from a dealer, or when we borrow money, or many other financial arrangements... we always end up having to sign a contract that the vendor wrote. Sometimes we can haggle over a few variables, but not many. Not just the contract wording, but the structure of the organization, the processes and procedures that encompass the transactions - business traditions dictate to us. Too often it is like when we have to click "Accept" or "Cancel" on the terms for software downloaded on the computer.
The more freedom in a system, the more responsive the vendor will be to competitive forces and the desire to have a good reputation with the consumer. Also, the smarter, more flexible and the more knowledgeable the consumer is, the less the power imbalance is a problem.
But even in a fairly free area of the market, and even with savvy, experienced consumers there is still an annoying problem. The good thing about Capitalism is that every problem can be thought of as a form of demand.
I can envision a service arising for each of these situations that does the contract for the consumer. A service that by acting as the consumer's agent, for many, many subscribing consumers, gets better prices and better terms. AND, as regards this article, would permit the consumers to complain to their contracting service which would get them some form of reimbursement (try to make things better at the expense of the vendor) or else never use that vendor and post the name of the offending vendor in a public place accessed by interested consumers. Real Estate agents serve this function to a degree, as do professional managers or agents in the world of writers, artists, entertainers, and actors.
The free market is not utopia and it can't satisfy all needs, but for things that are within its context, it does move in the direction of perfection - but as just part of the requirements of on-going, unrelenting improvement.
A last thought: Sometimes the best way to finish off a transaction that is less then optimal is more an act of psychology than an attempt to squeeze justice out of a frustrating situation. Branden told a story about Alan Greenspan coming by his apartment. They were going somewhere. Branden said he was just about ready to go, he just had to check on the bundle the laundry had dropped off - count the items to see if everything came back. Greenspan watched him counting socks and underwear and asked, "Have they lost many items over the years?" Branden says no and Greenspan says, "Then it would be cheaper to absorb the loss of an occasion pair of socks, then to hassle with counting and putting in a claim." Life presents us with choices. Economics is about the choices we make in the outside world. Psychology is about the choices we make in the inside world. Attaining a good life requires us to work them both efficiently.
(EDIT: I made a correction to the first paragraph after reading what Tibor posted later.)
(Edited by Steve Wolfer on 6/20, 11:53am)
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